Thales Report: PKI delivers security and trust to accelerate IoT and Cloud adoption

While a majority (54 percent) of respondents believe cloud-based services is the most important trend driving the deployment of applications using PKI, 40 percent also cited the IoT – a number that has doubled in the past three years. The findings, which reflect the responses of over 1,500 IT security practitioners worldwide, paint a picture of technological evolution and some uncertainty, but also opportunity:

• In the next 2 years, almost half (43%) of IoT devices will use digital certificates for authentication
• 43% of respondents believe PKI deployments supporting the IoT will be a combination of cloud-based and enterprise-based PKIs – a number that reflects the scale of the IoT and resulting scale of PKIs issuing certificates for it
• Over one-third of respondents (36%) cite new applications like the IoT as the fastest growing area of PKI evolution (a number that has almost tripled since 2015)
• On average, PKIs support more than 8 different applications within a business; SSL tops the list, followed by VPNs, public cloud apps, and device authentication
• Almost two-thirds of organizations now report having a PKI and 36% of respondents use hardware security modules (HSMs) to protect their PKI

Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of The Ponemon Institute, says:
"Last year, we underscored that it is hugely important PKIs be future proofed – and we still stand by that recommendation. Not only are PKIs a core enterprise asset, but they are playing an increasingly important role supporting certificate issuance needs for cloud applications and the IoT. Smart organizations have determined that successful IoT deployment rests on trust being established from the beginning, and they're leaning on their PKI as one component for building that trust."

John Grimm, senior director security strategy, Thales e-Security, says:
"PKI is an established technology which is well-positioned to address growing authentication needs and challenges as we embrace cloud applications and the IoT. While the sheer number and types of IoT devices pose security and interoperability challenges, authentication is a critical building block in transforming trust from an IoT barrier to an IoT enabler. One way a root of trust can be accomplished is through HSMs, which are high-assurance sources of credentials for both IoT and non-IoT applications. In the years to come, we expect to see even more HSM deployment and other indicators of higher PKI security maturity to help underpin the digital transformation of enterprises."

Download your copy of the new 2017 PKI Global Trends Study.

About Thales eSecurity
Thales eSecurity is the leader in advanced data security solutions and services that deliver trust wherever information is created, shared or stored. We ensure that the data belonging to companies and government entities is both secure and trusted in any environment – on-premise, in the cloud, in data centres or big data environments – without sacrificing business agility. Security doesn't just reduce risk, it's an enabler of the digital initiatives that now permeate our daily lives – digital money, e-identities, healthcare, connected cars and, with the internet of things (IoT), even household devices. Thales provides everything an organisation needs to protect and manage its data, identities and intellectual property, and meet regulatory compliance – through encryption, advanced key management, tokenisation, and privileged-user control and high-assurance solutions. Security professionals around the globe rely on Thales to confidently accelerate their organisation's digital transformation. Thales eSecurity is part of Thales Group.

Industry insight and views on the latest key management trends can be found on the Thales e-Security blog at blog.thalesesecurity.com.

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About Thales
Thales is a global technology leader for the Aerospace, Transport, Defence and Security markets. With 64,000 employees in 56 countries, Thales reported sales of €14.9 billion in 2016. With over 25,000 engineers and researchers, Thales has a unique capability to design and deploy equipment, systems and services to meet the most complex security requirements. Its exceptional international footprint allows it to work closely with its customers all over the world.

Positioned as a value-added systems integrator, equipment supplier and service provider, Thales is one of Europe's leading players in the security market. The Group's security teams work with government agencies, local authorities and enterprise customers to develop and deploy integrated, resilient solutions to protect citizens, sensitive data and critical infrastructure.

Thales offers world-class cryptographic capabilities and is a global leader in cybersecurity solutions for defence, government, critical infrastructure providers, telecom companies, industry and the financial services sector. With a value proposition addressing the entire data security chain, Thales offers a comprehensive range of services and solutions ranging from security consulting, data protection, digital trust management and design, development, integration, certification and security maintenance of cybersecured systems, to cyberthreat management, intrusion detection and security supervision through cybersecurity Operation Centres in France, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and Hong Kong.

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